Drug Abuse: Okei-Odumakin Calls for State of Emergency in Health Sector

The president of the rights groups Women Arise for Change Initiative and the Campaign for Democracy, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, has called for a state of emergency in the health sector in Nigeria, to check the menace of drug abuse and its effects.

Speaking on the theme ‘Drugs are Addictive; Escaping is Hard, Don’t Start’, on Wednesday in Lagos at an event organised by the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN) to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Okei-Odumakin said there was an urgent need to declare a state of emergency in the health sector because there was a need for more hands to deal with the menace of drug abuse and human trafficking in the society.

“Drug abuse is an abnormal use of drug and too much of everything is bad. There is a nexus between drug abuse and human trafficking, as the recruitment is sometimes through drug use.

READ: Minimum Wage: Your Sincerity Is Appreciated But 30,000 Is Insufficient, Okei-Odumakin Tells Buhari

“They use the drug either to cope, control or as a reward.

“This is why I tell people that always want to be like someone that it is wrong, because you may not be able to do what they do.’

Speaking on how drug abuse can be tackled, the women right activists pointed that individuals need to deal with the triggers which sometimes come in form of boredom, depression, loneliness, anger, rejection, anxiety and stress.

“We also need to talk to ourselves as the root is the heart. We can replace these bad habits with good habits like sports,” she said.

Speaking further on the topic, Okei-Odumakin noted that the addiction is compulsive use of a habit-forming substance as heroin, nicotine, masturbation, pornography, alcohol, etc characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal.

She noted that the World drug report 2016 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), estimated that a total of 275 million people worldwide, aged 15–64 years, used drugs at least once during 2016.

Out of this number, problem drug users, account for around 31 million meaning that their drug use is harmful to the point where they may need treatment.

She further revealed that every day, over a 500,000 bottles of codeine are consumed by young Nigerians across the country, same with the intake of tramadol, Rohypnol, marijuana, and other opioids.

She further noted that 46 percent of Nigerian youths have taken drugs at least once in their lifetime.

Dr Joe further narrated that Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery is an international organised crime, with the exploitation of human beings for profit at its core.

“It is an abuse of basic rights, with organised criminals preying on vulnerable people to make money. Victims are often sent abroad from their locality.

“Human Trafficking is a process, starting with the recruitment and ending with the exploitation of the victim. Forms of exploitation include Sexual and Labour exploitations, Domestic servitude, Forced begging/ stealing, Benefit fraud etc”

She also narrated that Intersections of Human Trafficking and Substance Abuse have revealed that recruitment through drug use, traffickers may target and recruit individuals who already have a drug lifestyle.

“Estimates reveal that between 40 and 85 percent of all persons engaged in prostitution are drug addicts.

“Vulnerable people mostly from poor socio-economic situations or rural communities are deceived with promises of work , education, better life and various forms of deceit according to the dynamism of the traffickers/ agents.

“The recruitment, particularly in Nigeria, is sealed with the subjection of victims and families to juju or voodoo traditional oaths of secrecy involving the use of their blood and other body parts, to instil fear in the victims.”

READ: Go Hard Against Drug Traffickers, Aisha Buhari Tasks Authorities

Speaking in the same vein, the Comptroller General of Immigration, Mohammed Babandede, said it had been observed that more people were going into drugs, which breeds crime in society.

Babandede who was represented by Helen Onwuzuwike, a Controller of Immigration noted that the menace has led to suicide, which is happening at a high rate in the society.

“Adult and even children are not left out, which should be curtailed. We are happy for a seminar like this, which aims at spreading the message to curb the menace.

“We at the immigration will also spread the word that drug is not good for us, it’s not good for our children, our parents and members of the society.

“You find people taking sniper to commit suicide, which is as a result of drugs which came through our borders. We appreciate this gesture by the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria and we will also join in spreading the message,” Babandede said.

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